Málaga, Spain, 24-25 September 2020

The VineScout third prototype VS-3 was presented to the public for the first time at the third edition of the Smart Agrifood Summit, held in Málaga, Spain, on 24 and 25 September, 2020. The robot was nominated for the Agrifood Summit Innovation Awards, so we were allowed to show VineScout in the demo area. Project flyers were distributed among the onsite visitors, mainly to the potential investors that attended this international event, which was half onsite half online.

Quinta do Ataíde, Portugal, 6-8 August 2020

During three hot days in August, VineScout team carried out multiple tests and maps with the new robot VS-3, which was evaluated for the first time in real conditions. Once navigation adjustments for the new steering system were set, the robot was able to cover the requested vineyard rows to make the crop maps. In particular, the team split in two to register the robot-generated maps and their ground-truth evaluation with manually-operated pressure chambers. After three intense days when temperature rised over 40 ºC, field testing and mapping was satisfactory, obtaining maps in different moments of the day and even at night. The tests also showed that new features and components, such as the steering system, time-of-flight sensor, and batteries, resulted in better performance.

UPV, Valencia (Spain), 13 July 2020

The VineScout team has been pushing forward to build the third robot prototype VS-3, in spite of the severe difficulties faced up during April, May, and June 2020 due to the restrictions enforced by the epidemic COVID-19. Without access to the lab until June, the team followed the reception of components from home and software was written by UDLR and UPV teams locally, while the robot fiberglass body was being crafted and assembled in a manufacturer’s workshop near Valencia (Spain). After June, sensors, mechanical parts, and software are being integrated in a race against the clock to meet our compromise for field testing in Portugal this summer. SYM team has been preparing the vineyards of Quinta de Ataíde over the epidemic too. Gathering field data for the last season of the project is critical for its successful closing.

Keep tuned for the upcoming field results!

Paris (France), 25 – 26 February 2020

The 2020 Annual Meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Tractor Codes took place in Paris on 25 and 26 February 2020. The slogan for this year’s meeting was Agricultural Robots: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities. The VineScout robot was exhibited in the main hall of the OECD Conference Center from 23 to 27 February, and  the VineScout project was also presented by the coordinator to meeting participants representing OECD countries and key partners of this organization. Given that the OECD may develop a potential regulatory framework for agricultural robotics and digitalization, it was a privilege to display the VS-II platform at this annual meeting.

Labège (Toulouse, France), 10 – 11 December 2019

 The VineScout prototype VS-2 was presented to the robotics community in the third edition of the international tradeshow FIRA2019 (Forum International de la Robotique Agricole). VineScout had its own booth in the main exhibition area, and the robot was sharing stage with other two robots. The event was centered on farm robots and related autonomous equipment. The coordinator of the project, Francisco Rovira Más, gave a talk presenting the project, which was then uploaded by FIRA organization to YouTube (link).

Quinta do Bomfim, Pinhao (Portugal), 16 October 2019

VineScout third Agronomy Day took place in Quinta do Bomfim, located in the scenic town of Pinhao, where SYM owns commercial vineyards and a charming winery. In this picturesque landscape of the Douro valley, more than 60 participants enjoyed of a field day with a robot demonstration and several talks given by the project partners explaining the results achieved over the year 2019. The event ended with the traditional questionnaire that gathers the feedback given by growers and other stakeholders interested in the project. Among the highlights of this edition 2019 is worth mentioning the support of the Advisory Board members, Marc Vanacht and Thomas Engel, the European Commission Project Officer, Liliana Borda-Marquillo, and SYM executive officers, Charles and Johnny Symington. The image shows the attendees following the operation of the robot.

Montpellier (France), 8-11 July 2019

The 12th European Conference of Precision Agriculture (ECPA2019) took place in Montpellier from 8th to 11th July 2019.

VineScout members presented the results of the 2018 season, regarding the mechanical improvements of the autonomous platform as well as the last NDVI and Temperature maps taken with the crop sensors.

Pontevedra (Spain), 1 July 2019

VineScout was presented and demonstrated to wine producers from D.O. RIAS BAIXAS in the north of Spain. The event on New Technologies for the Agrifood Sector was organized by the research center CETAL, and took place in the experimental vineyard owned and run by the winery Martín Códax, a recognized leader in the production of Albariño wine. After the demo, a questionnaire was delivered among participants who were enjoying the wine testing that closed the event.

Málaga (Spain), 20 – 21 June 2019

VineScout was presented at the Smart Agrifood Summit on 20 and 21 June in Málaga, Spain. This event attracted all kind of stakeholders from the agricultural sector, including such key players as John Deere, Bayer, IBM, Bosch, or Deloitte, in addition to representatives from the Spanish Government and the European Commission. A number of investors stopped by the project booth, and requested an update on the project progress and the second prototype. UPV attended the trade show in Málaga.

Santarém (Portugal), 13 – 14 June 2019

On 13 and 14 June, VineScout was present at the Feira Nacional de Agricultura 2019 in Santarém, which is an important national trade show in Portugal. VineScout robot was shown in the main entrance of the fair, where the four Portuguese different vineyard ecosystems were reproduced with actual vines planted on a grass and sand soil. SYM and UPV explained the features of the VineScout project to the attendees.